Ancient GREEK

1600BC-147BC
INTRODUCTION
The climate
• Emerged relatively after the Egypt
and Mesopotamia and materials
• Location: mostly coastal area with gave the
many small and big is lands in the Greek
Mediterranean Sea and in the
Aegean bay. craftsmen a
• Climate: Comfortable with no wide scope of
natural hazards such as heavy rains
and floods like Egypt and
developing
Mesopotamia their skills in a
• Building materials: are soft stones remarkable
like limestone and marble, with a
limited quantity of wood.
way.
 INTRODUCTION
• Contributions:
» studied various aspects of design
» worked out the mathematical
relations between the
dimensions, equality of ratios
» Developed the three major styles
called Greek orders such as Doric,
Ionic and Corinthian orders.
 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS
Mycenaean culture(1600 BC - 1100 BC)
» The root of Greek culture
» The 1st culture of Aegean civilization (1600 BC
- 1100 BC)
» Also called the earliest Greek
» Had a warrior culture that made them
powerful, but their eagerness to fight also
contributed to their downfall
» Time when highly developed monumental
art and architecture first flourished on the
Greek mainland
» Scholars call the Mycenaean's the
“earliest Greeks” because they are the
first people known to have spoken Greek.
 Historical Background
Period
• The period of ancient Greek history can be
divided into four as follows:
» 1100 B. C. – 750 B. C. Greek Dark Ages
» 750 B. C. – 500 B. C. Archaic Period
» 5000 B. C. – 323 B. C. Classical Period
» 323 B. C. – 147 B. C. Hellenistic Period
• The classical and archaic period are
sometimes collectively referred to as
Hellenic period
 The Dark Age (1100 – 750 BC)
» poverty and political confusion that lasted for more than 200
years
» The Mycenaean kings were replaced by petty chiefs, who had
limited power and wealth
» Disunited land of scattered city-states
» Greek economy collapse
» Called dark age because living conditions were harsh
» Artists stopped drawing people and animals on pots, restricting
their decoration to geometric designs.
• much less land is cultivated
• fewer settlements
• less international trade
The Archaic Period (750 – 480 BC)
» Called the Archaic Age because it was
considered archaic, or old-fashioned
» Time of recovery so there is a
competition to become culturally
superior
» Sense of democracy & sharing of power
among small group
» Economic improvement
The Classical Period (480 – 323 BC)
 A very important period in the ancient Greek
history.
 Rivalry between Athens and the city-state of Sparta
Time for culmination of Greek art and architecture
Great era of Greek philosophy
Alexander the Great extended his father’s empire
The Hellenistic Period (323 – 147 BC)
After Alexander died
Called Hellenistic because the ruling class speak
Greek and the official culture is that of Greek
 Architectural Character
Architecture in service of religion
» Architecture in Greece Started in the Service of
Religions
» Temples were the house of gods
» The Greeks regarded beauty as an attribute of
the gods and the conscious pursuit of beauty as
a religious exercise.
» The most important task for architects was how
to make the temple beautiful
» The search for ways to express architectural
beauty made the Greek civilization among the
first to have established ideals of beauty
 Architectural Character
proportions
» The Greeks convinced themselves that the
secrets of beauty lie in proportions
» Man was viewed by the Greeks as having the
most ideal proportions and is the measure of all
things
» Greek developed a system of building
proportion that reflected those of the human
body
» With time, they refined their system of building
proportion, and developed the classical Greek
orders which we will soon explore
 Architectural Character
• Doric order, Ionic order,
• The ancient Greeks developed three major Corinthian order
Named after three
styles called Greek Orders. major Greek tribes:
» Doric order Dorian, Corinthian and
» Ionic order Ionians
» Corinthian order Building types
Religious: open air altars,
• Building types temples and treasuries.
Civic: council house, law
» Religious
courts, market place, open
» Civic air assembly and roofed
» Domestic colonnade or portico.
» Recreational Domestic: houses from
one room type to multiple
• Building material rooms organized around a
» The principal building material of the courtyard, one or even
ancient Greeks was stone two stories.
» Clay and timber were also used Recreational: Open Air
Theater, roofed concert
» Timber was used mostly for roofing
hall, gymnasium and
stadium.
 Architectural Character
Construction
» Greek construction was of a simple post and lintel
construction
» Their ground plans were always very simple, usually
rectangular
» With a combination of simple ground plans and they
were able to create amazing buildings
» Buildings were constructed by skilled craftsmen who
were in demand and traveled from one state to the
other for construction work
» Designs were done on the ground by measuring out
the foundation
 Architectural Character
Construction
» Blocks of stone were ordered from the quarry
» Blocks were given initial preparation on the building
site
» Blocks were large and retained in position by their
own weight; it was not necessary to fix them
together in any way
» Roofs were of wood beams and rafters cut to square
shapes with tile roof
» Carvings and other decorative work were finished
when the building is completed
The Orders

» Refer to the entire set of form that

makes up the principal elevation of
a temple.
» Composed of a base, an upright
column or support with its capital,
and the horizontal entablature.
» All the parts of an order are
proportionally derived from the size
of the base of the column.
» It determines all aspects of the
elevation of a building including its
shape and the arrangement and
proportion of its parts
The Orders

» Greeks are credited with originating

the three orders of the classical
language of architecture, Doric, Ionic
and Corinthian.
» Columns were understood by the
Greeks to be anthropomorphic or
representative of the body of a
human
» The base suggests the feet, the shaft
the torso (upper body) and the
capital the head.
The Orders
» Each order had its own
conventions about the design
of the entablature
» The entablature is divided
into three sections; the
cornices, the frieze and the
architrave
» According the rules of
classical architecture, the
entablature should always be
divisible into these three
zones
The Orders
Doric Order

» The Doric order was the earliest to

be developed
» By the 6th century, a set of universal
proportions for the Doric temple
had been developed.
» The Doric order is made up of three
elements; stylobate, Column and
entablature
» The stylobate is a podium raised
three steps on which the temple sits
» The Doric column is further divided
into the shaft and a square capital
The Orders
Doric Order
» It had a height of between 5 and 6
times its diameter.
» The shaft is tapered and made
slightly to provide correction for
optical illusion.
» The shaft is usually divided into 20
shallow flutes.
» The entablature is divided into an
architrave, a frieze and the
cornice.
» The Doric column represents the
proportions of a man’s body, its
strength and beauty.
Doric Order
Entasis
» A characteristic of the Doric order is the
use of entasis
» Entasis refers to the practice of optical
correction in Greek Doric temples
» All buildings are arranged with a slight
curve to correct for optical illusion when
they are viewed
» This is done to counteract the concave
appearance produced by straight edges
in perspective
» The shaft of the column is built to be
slightly convex in shape for optical
correction
» Columns were also built with a slight tilt
Doric Order
Entasis
» The drawing to the left explains entasis
» Diagram one on top shows how the
ancient Greeks wanted the temple to
appear
» If the temple is built without
correction, then diagram two shows
how it would actually appear
» To ensure that it appears correctly as
desired in one, the Greeks introduced
the distortions shown in diagram three
» The application of entasis is an
expression of the desire for perfection
by Greek architects
» The best example of the application of
entasis is found in the Parthenon
The Parthenon
The Orders
Ionic Order

» The Ionic order evolved and took its name

from Ionia in modern day Turkey
» The ionic column including the capital and
base had a height of 9 to 10times its
diameter
» It had 24 flutes, which is more than that of
the Doric column, even though it is
smaller in diameter.
» The flutes were rounded at the top and
bottom.
The Orders
Ionic Order
» The Ionic order had a capital
developed from a pair of
volute about two-thirds the
diameter of the column in
height
» Ornaments are used to
decorate the area between
the capital and the volute
» The Ionic column has a base
» One of the limitations of the
Ionic order is that it is
designed to be seen from the
front only
The Orders
Ionic Order
» At the corner of
rectangular buildings, an
angular volute had to be
used.
» Entasis was not applied
to the ionic column
» The Ionic column is said
to represent the shape of
a women with its delicacy
and feminine
slenderness.
 The Orders
Corinthian Order
» The Corinthian order takes its name
from the city of Corinth in Greece
» It however appeared to have been
developed in Athens in the 5th
century BC
» This order is similar in its
proportions to the Ionic order but
has a different capital
» The core of the capital is shaped like
an inverted bell.
» The bell-like capital is decorated
with rows of carved acanthus leaves
 The Orders
Corinthian Order
» The rich decorative effect of the
Corinthian capital made it attractive.
» Because of its symmetry, the
Corinthian capital unlike the ionic
capital is designed to be seen from
all directions
» The Corinthian column, the most
beautifully ornate of the three
orders represents the figure of a
maiden
» This order was not extensively used
during the Greek period
» It became popular during the
ancient Roman period
Temple Architecture
» The most important Greek building
was the temple
» The temple had the finest building
materials and the richest decoration.
» It was also the most complex of
architectural form.
» It was designed not to hold
worshippers, but as symbolic
dwelling of the gods
» The temple is usually rectangular in
plan
» It is lifted on a podium, and in plan
has colonnades on all its external
sides
Temple Architecture; Introduction
» The number of columns is always
even to allow the location of the
entrance in the center; temples with
odd number of columns are
uncommon
» Temples with 2 columns in front are
diastyle, 4-tetrastyle, 6-hexastyle, 8-
octastyle and 10-decastyle
» Greek temples usually have twice the
number of columns in front plus one
by the side; A hexastyle temple =six
columns in front & thirteen on side
Temple Architecture
» Colonnades define a portico around the temple
» The temple building is made up of four walls
enclosing a rectangular space called the naos or
sanctuary
» This was the house of the god to whom the
temple is dedicated
» The interior rectangular space of the naos is
framed by a pair of colonnades on the long side
creating a central processional space
» At the head of the processional space is the
statue of the god to whom the temple is
dedicated
» The temple interior was generally dark, with only
the entrance as a source of light
Temple Architecture

» The temple always faced east so that the

rising sun would light the statues inside
» Temples were designed to be admired
from the outside rather than used
» The Greek temple is believed to originate
from the Mycenaean megaron
» From the megaron, it went through
several stages of evolution as shown in
the diagram
» By 500 BC, the final form of the Greek
temple had emerged
 Temple Architecture
Doric Temple
» The Doric temple is based on
the Doric order
» Both the Doric order and
temple went through a
simultaneous process of
evolution
» The Basilica at Paestum 550 BC
is an example of early Doric
temple
» It was built during the archaic
period of Greek civilization
 Temple Architecture
Doric Temple
» The columns on the front are 9,
while on the sides they are 18
» The Doric columns appear heavy
in comparison with later temples
» The columns have a bulge,
pointing to the practice of optical
correction or entasis by the time
of its construction
» The capitals are also huge, heavy
and very wide
 Temple Architecture
Temple of Aphaia at Aegina
» The Temple of Aphaia at Aegina
490 BC is a later temple than
the Basilica at Paestum
» Temple of Aphaia is much less
heavy than Paestum
» The entablature is less thick
» The columns are slimmer with
less entasis or bulge
» The capitals are also smaller

Doric Temple
 Temple Architecture
Temple of Aphaia at Aegina
» This temple is hexastyle but has
only 12 flanking columns- early
temple
» The interior columns are divided
into a row of two columns
separated by an architrave
» This allowed the designers to
avoid using columns with a large
diameter
» The temple has triangular
pediment on n the Eastern and
Western sides decorated with
stories from Greek myths
Doric Temple
 Temple Architecture
Temple of Hera Argiva at Paestum
» The Temple of Hera Argiva (or
Neptune) at Paestum 460 BC was
built later than the Temple of
Aphaia
» It is one of the best preserved of
all Greek temples
» It is more mature in its
proportions than all the others
examined
» The columns are 8.8 meters high
and about 4.3 times their lower
diameter

Doric Temple
 Temple Architecture
Temple of Hera Argiva at Paestum
» The temple is hexastyle but
with 24 columns on its flank
» It also has a double row of
columns in the interior, and
divided into two separated by
a stone architrave
» The most perfect of the Doric
temples is the Parthenon; We
will examine this temple later

Doric Temple
 Temple Architecture
» Ionic temples were built using the
Ionic order
» The most famous of the Ionic
temples is the temple of Artemis at
Ephesus
» It was considered one of the seven
wonders of the ancient World
» It was commissioned by Alexander
the Great and was believed to have
been built and destroyed several
times
» Unfortunately the temple has not
survived to the present time

Ionic Temples
 Temple Architecture

» There are also uncertainties

about its arrangement in plan
» The temple stands on a
platform 2.7 meters high
» It had 36 columns in its front
and they had an additional
relief sculpture at the base
» The best surviving Ionic
temples is the Temple of
Athena located at the Acropolis
at Athens

Ionic Temples
 Temple Architecture
» The Corinthian order was
not widely used during the
Greek period
» Earliest known example is
inside the 5th century
Temple of Apollo at Bassae.
» The temple of Olympian
Zeus in Athens was in the
Corinthian order
» The column was
constructed in 131 A.D. well
after the Roman conquest
of Greece
» The Corinthian order
became very popular during
the Roman period.
Corinthian Temples
 Civic Architecture
» During the Hellenistic period Greeks became very
fascinated by civic buildings
» Treatments once reserved for temples and the gods,
were gradually extended to civic and government
buildings.
» The Agora or market place also became very important
in Greek cities.
» The theater and council chamber are examples of civic
buildings found in every Greek city
 Civic Architecture
Theater Epidarus
» The Greeks invented the
theater design that is still used
in movies and auditoriums
today
» Every important Greek city had
a theater
» Their theater was built into a
hilly landscape
» The theater had a bank of seats
steps created from the
landscape
 Civic Architecture
Theater Epidarus
» The theater had a bank of
seats steps created from the
landscape
» It would usually commands a
view to the landscape
» The image shown is of theater
Epidaurus
» This was the largest theater in
ancient Greece
» It is still in use today
 Civic Architecture
Council Chamber – Bouleterion, Miletus

» The Bouleterion is where the Boule

or council of the city state met
» It was a covered chamber fitted
with banks of seats like a theater
» The example shown is from the city
of Miletus
» Similar buildings were found in
every Greek or Hellenistic city
 Assignment
Draw the three Greek orders in detail & while
drawing, carefully identify each parts of the columns
in comparison with each other.

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 Greek City Planning and Design
Planning and Design Principles
» The ancient Greek civilization had established
principles for planning and designing cities
» City form were of two types
» Old cities such as Athens had irregular street
plans reflecting their gradual organic
development
» New cities, especially colonial cities established
during the Hellenistic period, had a grid-iron
street plan
» Certain things were common among cities
 Greek City Planning and Design
Planning and Design Principles
» Towns had fixed boundaries and some were
protected by fortifications
» Much of the town was devoted to public use
» The Greek City was usually divided into three
parts; the acropolis, the agora and the town.
» Site planning and design was centered on the
appreciation of buildings from the outside.
» The location of buildings was therefore such
that it could command a good view to it.
 Greek City Planning and Design
The Acropolis
» The Acropolis was the city of temples
» It is the location where all the major
temples of a city are located
» It was built to glorify the gods
» Greeks considered high places to be
important & sacred
» The Acropolis were usually located on
the highest ground
» Other public buildings such as gymnasia,
stadia, and theaters were generally
regarded as part of religious rituals
» They are normally found attached on
lower ground to the hills of the Acropolis
 The Acropolis The major
buildings of the
Acropolis Athens in
classical period are
1. The Parthenon
2. The Propylaea

3. The temple of
Erectheon and
4. Epidaurus

• The Acropolis was called as the temple complex of

any Greek town located on a small hillock or a
mountain from which the entire town is visible.
 Greek City Planning and Design
The Agora
» The Agora was the most important gathering place in a
Greek city
» It started as an open area where the council of the city
met to take decisions
» With time buildings were constructed to define and
enclose the space
» It also transformed into a place for combined social,
commercial and political activities
» It emerged as the heart of Greek intellectual life and
discourse.
» It was usually located on a flat ground for ease of
communication
» It was placed to be easily accessible from all directions
» In many cities, it is also located close to the Acropolis
 Greek City Planning and Design
The Town
» The town was where the people lived
» This was the domain of women, who did not have any
public role
» Early Greek towns had an irregular street pattern, resulting
from its organic growth
» Later Hellenistic towns such as Prienne had a formal
rectilinear pattern
» The town was made up of only residential houses
» Houses were usually constructed of mud bricks
» Houses were of the courtyard type, with rooms
arranged around a courtyard
» Houses vary according to standing in the society
» Houses of poor people were very simple compared to
the house of the rich, which had more rooms and
 Greek Architecture in Athens
The Parthenon
» The Parthenon was the
most prominent building on
the Athenian Acropolis
» It was designed by Ictinus
and Callicrates in 447 BC
» The Parthenon is the most
perfect Doric temple ever
built.
» It was lighter and more
graceful than previous
temples
 Greek Architecture in Athens
The Parthenon
» It also embodies the
perfection of the Greek
system of proportioning
» The proportions of the
Parthenon are based on
the proportions of a man,
which is seven to one
» The ideal human body was
seven heads tall
 Greek Architecture in Athens
The Parthenon
» The Parthenon is an octastyle
temple with 8 columns in front and
17 columns by its side
» In the Parthenon we also find the
best example of the application of
entasis
» The Parthenon had two rooms in
plan; the treasury, which is most
often empty and the naos or inner
sanctuary
» An ivory gold statue of Athena, 11
meters tall carved by Phidas once
stood in the noas or inner
sanctuary of the Parthenon
 Greek Architecture in Athens
The Parthenon
» The statue reached the wooden
roof of the temple
» Parts of the inside and outside of
the Parthenon were once painted
» The inside of the temple was often
not used
» Processions and ceremonies were
held outside
» The temple’s alter was placed on
the Eastern side
» During the Christian period, the
Parthenon was used as a church
 Greek Architecture in Athens
The Parthenon
» Later the Turks converted it into a
Mosque
» In 1687, the Turks used it to store
ammunition and when they were
attacked by the Venetians, it
exploded
» The images shows what remains of it
» In 1801 An English man gathered the
broken pieces and shipped them to
the British museum in England
 The Propylaea
• The Propylaea (437-
432 BC)was a
monumental
structure that served
as the main gateway
to the Acropolis on its
steep western
approach. • The architect Mnesicles
• Like the Parthenon, designed asymmetrical
the Propylaea wings to the north and
combine the Doric south of the Propylaea’s
central block.
The Erechtheon
• Ionic temple - On the north
side of the Acropolis
• Begun in the 430s or
420s and was mostly
complete by 405BC
• unusual asymmetrical plan
- columns
- porches
• The southern porch,
sometimes called the Porch of
the Maidens, has six marble
maidens called caryatids that
support the entablature in
 Reading assignment
I. Read about Golden ratio and write the review
on your assignment book

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